Outside of the obvious jostling for playoff position this time of year comes with, this is also the part of the season when cases for the various annual awards will begin to be made in earnest.
Here’s a look at the frontrunners in each of the six major awards with about three-quarters of the season in the books now.
Coach of the Year – Nick Nurse
Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse gestures toward an official during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, in New York. (Kathy Willens / AP)
A homer pick? Sure. That doesn’t make this any less right, though.
Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse is the coach of the year and, really, it’s not even close.
Not only is that 12 of the 15 players on the roster overall, it also comprises the team’s top-seven core players — most of whom have missed significant time this season due to injury, as opposed to just a game here or there.
The only player who hasn’t missed a game — be it because of injuries or G League assignments — is rookie Terence Davis, who by the way, is enjoying a stellar rookie season, averaging 8.2 points per game on scorching 41.5 per cent shooting from three-point range on 3.6 attempts from distance in 17.6 minutes per game.
And yet, despite all this, the Raptors boast the third-best record in the league at 42-16, went on a Canadian professional sports-best 15-game win streak and look poised to reach another Eastern Conference Finals — or beyond.
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Yes, as it turns out, the Raptors are probably a lot more talented than many thought they were sans Kawhi Leonard — with Siakam, in particular, taking a huge leap this season — but the most consistent contributing factor to the Raptors’ success this season has been the steady hand of Nurse at the helm, guiding the good ship Raptors through rough weather just as deftly as he’s done through easy breezes.
The hallmark of the Raptors this season – and by proxy, Nurse – has been the team’s defence. Toronto’s buy-in and commitment on that end of the floor being ever-present — even as the team’s coach has experimented with some wacky looks by using multiple zones such as standard two-three, box-and-one and triangle-and-two, to using college basketball-style full- and half-court presses.
This is stuff that you don’t see in the NBA, and normally you’d hear grumbling from players over such weirdness. But that doesn’t happen with the Raptors, and the biggest reason is that, more often than not, when Nurse decides to push a button a positive result follows.
No other coach in the league has the kind of leeway, nor results to back it all up, like Nurse does. This award should be in the bag for him.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks (24) drives against New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball (2) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, in Memphis, Tenn. (Brandon Dill/AP)
Prepare to see this narrative popping up a lot in the coming weeks:
We’re about to see a good ole back alley brawl for the race to MVP. Giannis and Bron are neck and neck and after last night, it doesn’t look like either is backing down!!
Look, it’s not difficult, Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to win the MVP again.
His team, which had the best record in the league last season, is going to finish atop the league with an even better record this season and the man himself — who won MVP last season with averages of 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists — has improved nearly across the board statistically this season, averaging 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists.
Usually there’s some controversy in regards to MVP because it’ll normally wind up being awarded to the best player on the best team, but not necessarily the actual best player in the league. Antetkounmpo is the best player on the league’s best team who also happens to be the best player in the world.
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) dunks the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Rusty Costanza/AP)
This might seem crazy, because the most games New Orleans Pelicans phenom Zion Williamson can play this season is 37, while his Memphis Grizzlies super rookie counterpart Ja Morant has already played 51.
But there’s a definite chance because, for one, Williamson’s counting stats are a little better than Morant’s, but also because of where they’re respective teams are going.
As unfair as this is, the Grizzlies, who have now lost three straight, also feature the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, according to Tankathon, while the Pelicans have just the second-easiest.
If things go as expected, the Pelicans will make up the 3.5 games they’re currently back of the No. 8 seed Grizzlies and sneak into the playoffs, largely thanks to the boost Williamson’s providing them.
It’ll still be a tough call to measure what will be a full season’s worth of work from Morant to an explosive half-season from Williamson, meaning where the Grizzlies and Pelicans end the season in the standings will likely be a determining factor.
Defensive Player of the Year – Giannis Antetokounmpo
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrates a dunk. (Thibault Camus/AP)
Antetokounmpo is poised to enter elite company as just the fifth player in NBA history to win an MVP and defensive player of the year, joining Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Kevin Garnett in the select club. Even more exclusively, Antetokounmpo will join Jordan and Olajuwon as the only player to win both awards in the same season.
The Bucks are the league’s best defensive team by a large margin and Antetkounmpo has been one of the key factors in this, leading the league in individual defensive rating (96.2), defensive win shares (4.3) and defensive box plus/minus (3.9).
This is Antetokounmpo’s league now, on both ends of the floor, and he should get the fitting hardware to match.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder (17) dribbles downcourt against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game. (Alonzo Adams/AP)
One of the best stories of this season has been the surprisingly strong play of the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team many left for dead after the departures of Paul George and Russell Westbrook.
Instead, the Thunder, led by Canadian rising star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and veteran superstar Chris Paul, are comfortably in a playoff spot and could push for homecourt advantage seeding down the stretch.
But while most focus on the Thunder’s success this season has revolved around Gilgeous-Alexander and Paul, the player on the team most likely to walk away with some shiny recognition for the year is reserve guard Dennis Schroder.
The Thunder’s third-leading scorer, Schroder is enjoying one of his best seasons as a pro — and certainly his top one coming off the bench — averaging 19 points and four assists per game on 47.5 per cent shooting from the field and 38.6 per cent from deep.
Among players who have played at least 41 games off the bench, Schroder’s 19-point scoring average leads the field, including Los Angeles Clippers bench bosses Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams — who are probably the front-runners in many folks’ minds.
They shouldn’t be, though.
The Clippers were expected to be among the league’s elite, and probably would still be even if one of Harrell or Williams were having an off-season. The Thunder are a team that feel like they’re greater than the sum of their parts, and if you remove a piece like Schroder from the equation it’s unclear where they would be now.
Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic (77) dribbles upcourt against the Golden State Warriors during the first half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. (Jeff Chiu/AP)
Before saying anything else, it’s important to know that the author of this post personally dislikes this award. Not because it’s bad to reward improvement, but the idea of “most improved” just seems so arbitrary. Improvement can mean just about anything, and as such the goal posts for this award often shift from year to year. It’s just, overall, frustratingly undefined what the criteria of this award is.
So, with that said, the most improved player so far, by at least one estimation, is Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic.
Why? Well, just look at the descriptor preceding his name. Superstar.
In terms of tiers of improvement, the hardest one to make is going from very-good, star-level player into a true blue bona fide superstar. Doncic has made this leap in just his second NBA season.
This doesn’t just have to do with numbers, though – which, by the way, have improved over his rookie season in nearly every statistical category.
Being an NBA superstar means that, yes, you have to produce on the floor and likely be the best player on the floor whenever you’re on it, but it’s also about being marketable and a good ambassador for league and the sport as a whole as the superstars of the NBA double as its face.
Doncic might be the most exciting player in the league to watch, has a million-watt smile and represents the global game basketball is and the NBA has become.
Superstars are less common than you think they are, but you definitely know one see one. Doncic is a superstar.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
